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Heathrow Airport hotel worker gets life for double murder

A male Heathrow Airport hotel worker who murdered a hetrosexual man he had ‘developed a crush on’ has been jailed for 26 years.

Atilla Ban, a receptionist at Heathrow Airport’s Radisson Edwardian Hotel, murdered colleagues Tibor Vass and Alice Adams in August 2011 before hiding in the divan bed that Vass’s body was found lying on.

Ban, 32, evaded police detection throughout the investigation.

The alarm was raised after the three of them failed to turn up for work, and Mr Ban updated his Facebook page, saying ‘I would like to wake up from this nightmare.’

Ban was found guilty of murder last month, despite entering a plea of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The BBC reported that Detective Inspector John Finch described Ban as cold and manipulative and claimed that he was obsessed with Vass and may have thought: ‘If I can’t have him, no-one can.’

Prosecutor Richard Whittam, QC, said: ‘He must have been there throughout the attendance of the pathologist, the removal of the bodies and the examination of the scene by crime scene examiners.

‘He had the presence of mind to have concealed himself effectively and to remain undetected throughout the time they were on the premises.’

Ban was discovered after he climbed out of the bed and slashed his wrists and neck in a suicide attempt following the removal of the bodies of Mr Vass and Ms Adams.

The mother of Mr Vass, Rozalia Vass, told the BBC: ‘It was impossible and devastating to believe something like this could happen.

‘Previously, it was comforting for me to know that Tibor found a good friend in London who was mature, friendly and intelligent.

‘His friend promised me personally to look after my son and not to let anything happen to him.